just tried it on another image and it turned out a lot bitter. I played around with cut-out filters and poster edges. and some lighting effects

I think your second attempt went a lot better than the first, although it still looks like you just ran some filters on a photograph. I high recommend that you take the time to use the pen tool in illustrator or photoshop and trace the shapes so that you have nice clean lines and curves. It looks a little jagged in that photograph.

I have a feeling that the OP might be a little confused on what exactly a vector drawing is.
What you have submitted is a Bitmap image.
Bitmap images are made by arranging a ton of pixels. These images use more use more memory than a comparable vector image and lose their quality when re-scaled.

Vector images produced with a drawing software package intended for such a purpose. Vector images are made up of lines, shapes and co-ordinates.

If you truly wanted to vectorize your photo, I would suggest using something like Adobe Illustrator to rotoscope it.

mac: a waterproof raincoat made of rubberized fabric
MAC: a data communication protocol sub-layer, also known as the Media Access Control
Mac: a brand name which covers several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc.

I have a feeling that the OP might be a little confused on what exactly a vector drawing is.
What you have submitted is a Bitmap image.
Bitmap images are made by arranging a ton of pixels. These images use more use more memory than a comparable vector image and lose their quality when re-scaled.

Vector images produced with a drawing software package intended for such a purpose. Vector images are made up of lines, shapes and co-ordinates.

If you truly wanted to vectorize your photo, I would suggest using something like Adobe Illustrator to rotoscope it.

Alright. this i actually made in illustrator CS3. Took me quite some time.
Its not like the previous ones that i used Photoshop for to run some filters and tweak it a littl bit. It took me about 5 hours

mac: a waterproof raincoat made of rubberized fabric
MAC: a data communication protocol sub-layer, also known as the Media Access Control
Mac: a brand name which covers several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc.

Goofy expression, but as a vector drawing of a face it looks great DB. Better than what I can do, although I've never attempted it. All you do is just trace a photo in Illustrator? What did you use, a mouse or tablet?